Lower Risk of ACL Reinjury in Children?

A study is aiming to lower the risk of ACL re-injury in Children. Pediatric sports medicine physician-researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago are leading a randomized controlled trial on combined anterior cruciate ligament ACL and anterolateral ligament (ALL) reconstruction in children and adolescents.

Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) is funding the study. The research will be aiming to determine whether performing a concomitant ALL reconstruction at the time of ACL reconstruction lowers the ACL graft failure rate in young people. The study will compare the results of children undergoing combined ACL and ALL reconstruction and those undergoing ACL reconstruction alone.

The study’s third target will be determining the rate and types of surgical complications related to ALL reconstruction in children and adolescents. At least four high-volume centers are part of the trial. The centers are:

• Lurie Children’s
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Texas Children’s Hospital
• Benioff Children’s Hospital at UCSF

More than 150 ACL reconstructions in children are done by each institution annually. The study’s principle investigator is Neeraj Patel, MPH, MD, MBS. Patel said, “We hope to solve a challenging and prevalent problem in pediatric sports medicine with high-level evidence.” Patel was awarded the St. Giles Young Investigator Award.

He added, “A low-morbidity intervention that lowers the risk of ACL re-injury could have a tremendous impact on thousands of children annually.”